When we hear the joy or sorrow of another person

            Our own life changes

            Our heart leaps up or begins to ache

            Our spirit reaches out

            Our nerves and muscles tingle in sympathy

            Our mind begins to form an intention of how to respond

                        How to support

                        How to care

            Our relationships change us

            Because we are connected to one another

                        By threads of compassion, 

            Stepping into community

                        Opens us to vulnerability

            Becoming a member of a community

                        Relates us to the lives of others

                        The way that our limbs our members of our body

            A pleasure or pain felt anywhere in the body is felt by all the members of the body

            Thus our individual joy is multiplied in every person who hears our news

            Thus our personal sorrow is lessened as it is shared among every sympathetic soul

            If we have the courage to join our spirits to the spirits of others

            We find our hearts enlarged

                        Our minds extended

                        Our souls expanded

                        And our lives enhanced